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GSA Administrator Martha Johnson Visits Kentucky Electronics Recycler

Federal government recycling its electronics could mean big business for companies.

GSA# 10812

Aug. 9, 2011
Sara Merriam, 202-501-1231
sara.merriam@gsa.gov

GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Today, GSA Administrator Martha Johnson visited Global Environmental Services, an electronics recycling company in Georgetown, Ky. Johnson visited GES to tour the facility and discuss opportunities created by a recent announcement that all government electronics must be either reused or recycled by a certified recycler.

“By some estimates, the federal government goes through 10,000 computers a week. Requiring that each of those machines end their useful lives at a certified recycler could mean big business,” said Johnson. “Ultimately, the federal government is set on making the country’s largest consumer of electronics the country’s most responsible user of electronics.”

Certified electronics recyclers can anticipate a wealth of opportunities in working for the U.S. government.

On July 20, GSA teamed with the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality to release the Obama administration’s “National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship” – a strategy for responsible electronic design, purchasing, management, and recycling that will promote the burgeoning electronics recycling market and jobs of the future here at home.

As the federal government’s centralized procurement arm, GSA is responsible for $65 billion a year in procurements, including $3 billion in information technology equipment. The administration’s strategy calls on GSA to encourage the more environmentally friendly design of electronic products and to direct federal agencies to reuse or recycle discarded electronics at a certified recycler.

Global Environmental Services is an electronics recycler with a state-of-the-art 70,000-square-foot facility employing 60 people in Kentucky’s heartland.
Click here to read Administrator Johnson's remarks at the July 20, 2011 announcement.

As the federal government's workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s expertise in government workplace solutions includes:
• Effective management of government assets including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 215,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;
• Leveraging the government’s buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services making up approximately 14 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars;
• Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and,
• Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of governmentwide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.